Analysis of The Lady's Yes
Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806 (Kelloe) – 1861 (Florence)
'Yes,' I answered you last night;
'No,' this morning, Sir, I say.
Colours seen by candlelight,
Will not look the same by day.
When the viols played their best,
Lamps above, and laughs below---
Love me sounded like a jest,
Fit for Yes or fit for No.
Call me false, or call me free---
Vow, whatever light may shine,
No man on your face shall see
Any grief for change on mine.
Yet the sin is on us both---
Time to dance is not to woo---
Wooer light makes fickle troth---
Scorn of me recoils on you.
Learn to win a lady's faith
Nobly, as the thing is high;
Bravely, as for life and death---
With a loyal gravity.
Lead her from the festive boards,
Point her to the starry skies,
Guard her, by your truthful words,
Pure from courtship's flatteries.
By your truth she shall be true---
Ever true, as wives of yore---
And her Yes, once said to you,
SHALL be Yes for evermore.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH XXXE XXXB HIHI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (71%) |
Metre | 1110111 1110111 11110 1110111 101111 1010101 1110101 1111111 1111111 110111 1111111 1011111 1011111 1111111 111101 1110111 1110101 1010111 1011101 1010100 1010101 1010101 1011101 1111 1111111 1011111 0011111 111110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 917 |
Words | 170 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 92 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 51 sec read
- 251 Views
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